Ternan Family Papers - Senate House Libraries - University of London

Ternan Family Papers 

(MS 915) 

©Senate House Library 

University of London 

Stefan Dickers 

April 2005

Table of Contents 

Table of Contents p.2 

Collection Level Description p.3 

MS915/1: Manuscripts p.6 

MS915/2: Other Manuscripts p.8 

MS915/3: Photographs p.12 

MS915/4: Framed Items p.17 

2

MS915 Ternan Family Papers c18001974 

Extent: 

4 boxes: 2 outsize items 

Name of Principal Creators: 

Robinson, Ellen Lawless Wharton (18391914) actress, 

known as Ellen Ternan 

Trollope, Frances Eleanor (18351913) née Ternan, 

actress and author 

Taylor, Maria Susannah (18371904) nee Ternan, 

actress and author 

Reece, Gladys Eleanor Wharton (d 1973) nee Wharton 

Robinson, daughter of George and Ellen Wharton 

Robinson 

Wickham, Helen Florence (18841982) painter and 

potter 

Administrative/Biographical History: 

The Ternan Family Papers contain material created by 

many of the extended Ternan family, although only the 

biographies of the three Ternan sisters are given 

below. 

Ellen Lawless [Nelly] Robinson (nee Ternan) (1839 

1914), actress, was born on 3 March 1839 at 11 Upper 

Clarence Place, Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent, the 

third of four children of the actors Thomas Lawless 

Ternan (17901846) and his wife, Frances Eleanor, 

née Jarman (18021873). Ellen had two elder sisters, 

Frances Eleanor and Maria Susanna, and a younger 

brother who died in infancy. All three sisters entered 

the acting profession early. After the early death of 

their father in 1846 they were obliged to earn their 

living, touring the north of England, Ireland, and 

Scotland with their mother. Nelly's first adult 

engagement was in a burlesque at the Haymarket in 

1857, and it was after this that she was engaged by 

Charles Dickens, with her mother and Maria, to 

perform with his amateur company in The Frozen Deep 

in Manchester. It was during this theatrical engagement 

that Ellen began a relationship with Dickens which was 

to continue until his death in 1870. 

Dickens left Nelly £1000 in his will and set up a private 

trust fund which freed her from the necessity of working 

again after his death in 1870. She travelled abroad, 

then on 31 January 1876, in the parish church at 

Kensington, she married a clergyman twelve years her 

3

junior, George Wharton Robinson (1850–1910). She 

helped her husband to run a boys' school in Margate, 

and gave birth to a son and a daughter. Her last years 

were spent at Southsea, where she was reunited with 

her sisters. She died from cancer at 18 Guion Road, 

Fulham, London, on 25 April 1914 and was buried in 

the Highland Road cemetery, Southsea, in her 

husband's grave. 

Frances Eleanor Trollope (18351913), was born in 

August 1835 on a paddlesteamer in Delaware Bay 

during her parents' tour of America. After a successful 

career on the stage she went to Florence to study 

opera singing, and became governess to Bice 

(Beatrice), the daughter of the widowed Thomas 

Adolphus Trollope (18101892). On 29 October 1866 

she married her employer. They lived in Italy for many 

years. She wrote a number of novels, several of which, 

including 'Aunt Margaret's Trouble' (1866) and 'Mabel's 

Progress' (1867), were serialized anonymously by 

Dickens in All the Year Round. After her husband's 

death in 1892 she wrote the life of her motherinlaw, 

Frances Trollope (17791863). During her last years 

her sister Ellen lived with her in Southsea, and she 

died there on 14 August 1913. 

Maria Susanna Taylor (18371904) nee Ternan, sister 

of Ellen and Frances Eleanor, appeared with her 

sisters on the stage until her marriage, on 9 June 1863, 

to William Rowland Taylor, the son of a prosperous 

Oxford brewer. Shortly after her mother's death she left 

her husband, and at the age of forty enrolled at the 

Slade School of Fine Art to learn to paint. She made 

her home in Rome and travelled adventurously in north 

Africa; and she worked as an artist and journalist, 

writing for the London Standard for more than twelve 

years. She returned to England in 1898 and died in 

Southsea on 12 March 1904. 

Scope and Content: 

Papers relating to the extended Ternan family and their 

friends, [c18001974], including; manuscript material 

received by Katherine Longley from Helen Florence 

Wickham as joint executrix and legatee of the personal 

property of Gladys Eleanor Wharton Reece (daughter 

of Mr and Mrs George Wharton Robinson), and later 

bequeathed to Senate House Library. Includes 

commonplace and address books for Mr and Mrs 

George Wharton Robinson, diaries kept by Gladys 

Wharton Reece and other documents, 18681913; 

4

material received by Katherine Longley from Helen 

Florence Wickham and later bequeathed to Senate 

House Library, University of London. Includes diaries, 

correspondence and other material relating to the 

Wickham and Darby families, particularly, John 

Wickham, Thomas Elde Darby and Rosalind Wickham; 

letters to Helen Wickham from Mrs Wharton Robinson, 

Mrs F.E.Trollope and Rosalind Wickham, along with 

material relating to Helen Wickham's career as an 

artist, c18001929; photographs of and concerning the 

extended Ternan family, including photographs of Mr 

and Mrs George Wharton Robinson and their children, 

Geoffrey and Gladys Wharton Robinson, Helen 

Wickham, Maria Taylor and others, along with family 

group photographs, photographs of nonfamily 

members (including Charles Dickens and many actors 

and theatrical managers) and images of sites and 

buildings with family connections, c18591974; framed 

illustrations and portraits concerning the extended 

Ternan family, including miniatures painted by Helen 

Wickham and pencil portraits of Ellen Ternan and 

Rosalind Wickham, 18241913. 

System of Arrangement: 

The collection is arranged into the following sections: 

MS915/1: Manuscripts 

MS915/2: Other Manuscripts 

MS915/3: Photographs 

MS915/4: Framed Items 

Archival History: 

The material was gifted by Katherine Longley (and 

Michael Slater) to Senate House Library at various 

points between 1978 and 1992. 

Access conditions: 

Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose 

of private study and personal research within the 

supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's 

Palaeography Room. 

Copying conditions: 

Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the 

original. Copying must be undertaken by the 

Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 

24 hours to process requests 

5

MS915/1 Manuscripts 18681913 

Manuscript material received by Katherine Longley 

from Helen Florence Wickham as joint executrix and 

legatee of the personal property of Gladys Eleanor 

Wharton Reece (daughter of Mr and Mrs George 

Wharton Robinson), and later bequeathed to Senate 

House Library. Includes commonplace and address 

books for Mr and Mrs George Wharton Robinson, 

diaries kept by Gladys Wharton Reece and other 

documents. 

MS915/1/1 Commonplace Book kept by George Wharton 

Robinson 

Large notebook containing handwritten notes and 

press cuttings kept by George Wharton Robinson 

and inscribed on the opening page, 'A commonplace 

book for thoughts and noteworthy events: the 

sayings and doings of wise men: fine passages from 

different authors and the entering of all fresh 

knowledge picked up by the way' (86pp) (17 January 

1870 22 January 1879) 

18701879 

1 volume 

MS915/1/2 Verses for Recitation 1868 

Handwritten verses for recitation by Mrs Wharton 

Robinson (Ellen Ternan), including the following: 

'The Maiden and the Weathercock' by Longfellow 

(in the hand of Ellen Ternan) 

'The Irish Schoolmaster: A Lesson in History, 

Geography and Biography' (in the hand of Ellen 

Ternan, possibly of her own composition) 

'He, and She' (in the hand of Ellen Ternan) 

'The Faithful Lovers' (in the hand of Ellen Ternan) 

'Two Cities of the Dead' by T.A.Trollope (?) 

(January 1868) 

List of recitations (perhaps in the hand of Mrs 

F.E.Trollope; endorsed with a list of three recitations 

in hand of Ellen Ternan) 

1 envelope 

6

MS915/1/3 Commonplace Book kept by Ellen Ternan 18701913 

Commonplace book kept by Ellen Ternan including 

handwritten verses by different authors, including 

Rudyard Kipling, and press cuttings, along with notes 

and verse by Ternan including a description of a visit 

to Windsor Park and an elegy on the death of Mamie 

Dickens' dog 'Tit' (includes many loose pages and 

notes) (c60pp) (18701913) 

1 volume 

MS915/1/4 'The Shakespeare Birthday Book' 1891 

Leather bound diary entitled 'The Shakespeare 

Birthday Book'(edited by M.F.P.Dunbar) containing 

printed quotes from Shakespeare’s and handwritten 

entries by Gladys Wharton Robinson of friends and 

relatives' birthdays (1891). 

1 volume 

MS915/1/5 'Unrejected Addresses' c18961905 

Volume containing 43 envelopes (4 loose) mainly 

addressed to either Mrs Wharton Robinson (Ellen 

Ternan), Geoffrey Wharton Robinson, Mrs Trollope 

and others at the address 'The Filberts, Calcot, Near 

Reading' or variations of it (c18961905) 

1 volume 

MS915/1/6 Diaries of Gladys Wharton Robinson 19071910 

Four volumes of handwritten diaries kept by Gladys 

Wharton Robinson, including press cuttings, leave 

samples and various ephemera inserted between 

pages (19071910). 

4 volumes 

MS915/1/7 Address Book of Mrs Wharton Robinson c19101913 

Handwritten address book kept by Mrs Wharton 

Robinson (Ellen Ternan) (c19101913). 

1 volume 

7

MS915/2 Other Manuscripts c1800 

1929 

Items received by Katherine Longley from Helen 

Florence Wickham and later bequeathed to Senate 

House Library, University of London. Includes 

diaries, correspondence and other material relating 

to the Wickham and Darby families, particularly, John 

Wickham, Thomas Elde Darby and Rosalind 

Wickham; letters to Helen Wickham from Mrs 

Wharton Robinson, Mrs F.E.Trollope and Rosalind 

Wickham, along with material relating to Helen 

Wickham's career as an artist (c18001929) 

MS915/2/1 Armorial Bookplate of John Wickham 

Three paper copies of the armorial bookplate of John 

Wickham, Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford 

(grandfather of Miss H.Wickham) (c1800) 

c1800 

3 items 

MS915/2/2 Commission for Deputy Lieutenant of the County 

of Somerset 

Commission from Lord John Thynne, Vice 

Lieutenant of the County of Somerset, appointing 

John Wickham as one of the Deputy Lieutenants of 

the county, as possessed of an estate in the 

parishes of Babcary and Rimpton of the yearly value 

of £200 and upwards (1 January 1827) 

1827 

1 item 

MS915/2/3 Sketch of Batcombe Church 

Small sketch of Batcombe Church, Somerset, by 

'R.D.' (Rosalind Darby), on the reverse of an 

invitation card to a 'soiree desante' given by Mrs 

Robert Haig (n.d.) 

n.d. 

1 item 

MS915/2/4 Ball Invitation 1881 

Invitation from the Marquis and Marchioness of Bath 

to Mr and Mrs Henry Wickham to attend a ball at 

Longleat in the presence of the Price and Princess of 

Wales, with dance engagement card (9 December 

1881). 

1 item 

8

MS915/2/5 Copy Diary of Thomas Elde Darby 

Small volume containing handwritten diary entries by 

Thomas Elde Darby, including description of a visit to 

Milan, and other material relating to Darby, copied by 

Helen Wickham, with loose press cutting concerning 

Queen Anne's Gate, London (c75pp) (c1852; n.d.) 

1852; n.d. 

1 item 

MS915/2/6 Letters from Thomas Elde Darby to Rosalind 

Darby 

Twentythree letters from Thomas Elde Darby to his 

daughter Rosalind at school in Paris (in French and 

English) (18501854) 

18501854 

23 items in envelope 

MS915/2/7 Letter from Thomas Elde Darby to Rosalind 

Darby 

Letter from Thomas Elde Darby to his elder sister 

Rosalind Darby regarding general and personal 

matters (2pp) (14 August 1859). 

Envelope addressed to Henry Wickham (13 

October 1881) 

18591881 


MS915/2/8 Letters to Helen Wickham regarding her Pottery 

Figurines 

Thirty letters to Helen Wickham regarding the 

exhibition and sale of her pottery figurines, including 

correspondence with the British Institute of Industrial 

Art, The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, 

Sculptors and Gravers, the British Empire Exhibition 

(1924) Incorporated, H.C.Dickins, the Fine Art 

Society, Ernest Brown and Phillips and others (1922 

1929) 

19221929 

1 envelope 

MS915/2/9 Catalogue of The Arts and Crafts Exhibition 

Society 

Catalogue (under revision) for the 14th exhibition of 

the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, held at the 

galleries of the Royal Academy and featuring listings 

for three artworks by Helen Wickham (1928). 

1928 

1 item 

9

MS915/2/10 Letters from Mrs Wharton Robinson to Helen 

Wickham 

Two letters from Mrs Wharton Robinson (Ellen 

Ternan) to Helen Wickham regarding family and 

personal matters (1912, n.d.) 

1912 


MS915/2/11 Letter from F.E.Trollope to Helen Wickham 1912 

Letter from F.E.Trollope to Helen Wickham 

regarding the latter's artwork (2pp) (16 February 

1912) 

1 item in envelope 

MS915/2/12 Letter from 'Mammy' to Helen Wickham 

Letter from 'Mammy' to Helen Wickham regarding 

received flowers and general matters (3pp) (n.d.) 

n.d. 


MS915/2/13 'My First Night in the Old Rectory' 1914 

Handwritten ghost story, 'My First Night in the Old 

Rectory' by Rosalind Wickham (8pp) (n.d.) 

Handwritten ghost story, 'A True Experience of 

Rosalind E.Wickham', dictated by Rosalind 

Wickham and written by Helen Wickham for 

possible submission to the Society for Psychical 

Research (6pp) (11 October 1914) 

Handwritten notes entitled 'Clergy List, 1859' 

listing sources of research on the clergy in 

Batcombe, Somerset, possibly by Katherine 

Longley (1p) (n.d.) 

1 envelope 

MS915/2/14 Silver Spoon 

Small silver spoon, inscribed 'NWR' (Nelly Wharton 

Robinson) on top, with typescript note the spoon's 

provenance and history by Katherine Longley (n.d.) 

n.d. 

1 item 

10

MS915/2/15 Handwritten Copy of Obituary of Thomas Elde 

Darby 

Handwritten copy of obituary of Thomas Elde 

Darby from the Illustrated London News (originally 

published 12 August 1854) in unidentified hand 

(2pp) (n.d.) 

Press cutting, '"Royal" Squire Dies' from the Daily 

Express (17 December 1926) 

1926 


MS915/2/16 Photocopy of Wickham Family Tree 

Photocopy of handwritten pedigree/family tree of 

Helen Wickham (1p) (n.d.) 

n.d. 


11

MS915/3 Photographs c1859 

1974 

Photographs of and concerning the extended Ternan 

family, including photographs of Mr and Mrs George 

Wharton Robinson and their children, Geoffrey and 

Gladys Wharton Robinson, Helen Wickham, Maria 

Taylor and others, along with family group 

photographs, photographs of nonfamily members 

(including Charles Dickens and many actors and 

theatrical managers) and images of sites and 

buildings with family connections (c18591974). 

MS915/3/1 Ellen Ternan c18591896 

1. Full length photograph of Ellen Ternan (c1859) 

(The Revolving Studio, Bayswater) 

2. Head and shoulders photograph of Ellen Ternan 

(c18651876) 

3. Upper body photograph of Ellen Ternan (c1867) 

(Montabone, Firenze) 

4. Head and shoulders photograph of Mrs Wharton 

Robinson (Ellen Ternan) (c1876) 

5. Head and shoulders photograph of Mrs Whartin 

Robinson (Ellen Ternan) (c1896) 


MS915/3/2 George Wharton Robinson c18601895 

1. Full length photograph of George Wharton 

Robinson (c1860) (W.Elliott, Dover Street, Penrith) 

2. Head and shoulders photograph of George 

Wharton Robinson (c1873) (Wheeler and Day, 

Oxford) 

3. Full length photograph of George Wharton 

Robinson (c1895) (Hollis and Son, London) 


MS915/3/3 Geoffrey Wharton Robinson 18801903 

1. Full length photograph of Geoffrey Wharton 

Robinson, aged 18 months (August 1880) 

(L.R.Goodman, Margate) (Received from Mrs Gem 

Kirklinton, September 1981) 


Robinson, aged 2 years and 4 months (June 1881) 

(L.R.Goodman, Margate) 


Robinson (c1881) (L.R.Goodman, Margate) 

12


Robinson as 'The Infant Bacchus', aged 3 years (2 

copies) (February 1882) (L.R.Goodman, Margate) 


Robinson as Captain in the Lancashire Fusiliers (2 

copies) (February 1903) 


MS915/3/4 Gladys Wharton Robinson c18861909 

1. Full length photograph of Gladys Wharton 

Robinson (c1886) (George Goodman, Margate) 

2. Full length photograph of Gladys Wharton 

Robinson (c1895) (William Whiteley, London) 

3. Upper body photograph of Gladys Wharton 

Robinson, seated and reclining (c1909) 


MS915/3/5 Maria Taylor c18721901 

1. Full length photograph of Maria Taylor, seated 

(c1872) (Henry W.Taunt, Oxford) 

2. Head and shoulders photograph of Maria Taylor 

(c1901) 


(c1901) 


(c1901) 


MS915/3/6 Helen Florence Wickham 

Upper body photograph of Helen Florence Wickham, 

seated (c1927) (Received from Mrs M Ayres) 

c1927 


MS915/3/7 Other Family Members c18591901 

1. Head and shoulders photograph of James Ternan, 

brother of Thomas Lawless Ternan (n.d.) 

2. Head and shoulders photograph of Elizabeth Anna 

Ternan, daughter of James Ternan (n.d.) 

3. Head and shoulders photograph of Frances 

(Fannie) Ternan, daughter of James Ternan, who 

later married Frederick Roberts of Cork (n.d.) (Alex 

Ayton, Londonderry) 

4. Upper body photograph of Celia Darby, aunt of 

Helen Florence Wickham (c1860) (Elliot and Fry, 

London) 

13

5. Upper body photograph of Edith Skaife, nee 

Robinson, sister of George Wharton Robinson and 

first wife of Dr Skaife of Chichester (n.d.) (Arthur 

Debenham, Isle of Wight) 

6. Head and shoulders photograph of Thomas 

Adolphus Trollope (n.d.) 

7. Head and shoulders photograph of Anthony 

Trollope (n.d.) (Elliot and Fry, London) 

8. Full body photograph of Frances Eleanor Ternan, 

senior (Fanny Jarman) (c1859) (The Revolving 

Studio, Bayswater) 

9. Head and shoulders photograph of Frances 

Eleanor Trollope (24 February 1901) 


MS915/3/8 Family Groups 18701909 

1. Photograph of a seated and standing Ternan 

Family, taken at Oxford, including Mrs F.E.Trollope, 

Mrs Ternan, Ellen Ternan and Maria Taylor (July 

1870) 

2. Upper body photograph of Dr W.G.Ternan with his 

sister Mrs Roberts (n.d.) (Alex Ayton, Londonderry) 

3. Long view photograph of George Wharton 

Robinson with unidentified woman, perhaps his 

mother (c1871) (Smelt, Penrith) 

4 Full body photograph of Mr and Mrs George 

Wharton Robinson (c1877) (H.Goodman, Margate) 

5. Upper body photograph of Mr and Mrs George 

Wharton Robinson with their son, Geoffrey 

(December 1879) (H.Goodman, Margate) 

6. Full body photograph of Geoffrey and Gladys 

Wharton Robinson (August 1885) (George 

Goodman, Margate) 

7. Head and shoulders photograph of Geoffrey and 

Gladys Wharton Robinson (c1887) (John Hawke, 

Plymouth) 

8. Full body photograph of Geoffrey and Gladys 

Wharton Robinson with pet dog (2 copies) (February 

1889) (William Whiteley, London) 

9. Full body photograph of Helen Wickham and 

Gladys Wharton Robinson dressed as bridesmaids 

(1889) (William Whiteley, London) 

10. Full body photograph of Helen Wickham and 

Gladys Wharton Robinson dressed as bridesmaids 

(Different shot from above) (1889) (William Whiteley, 

London) 

11. Photograph taken to celebrate the engagement 

of Gladys Wharton Robinson to Edward Turberville 

Bernard Reece (showing also Mrs Wharton 

14

Robinson, Mrs F.E.Trollope, Helen Wickham, etc), 

taken in the garden of 27 Victoria Grove, Southsea 

(7 August 1909) 

12. Full body photograph of Dr Obadiah Ternan of 

Enniskillen, son of James Ternan, with his youngest 

brother Dr William George Ternan, of Harrington 

Street, Dublin (n.d.) 


MS915/3/9 Others 

1. Upper body photograph of Charles Dickens, 

seated (n.d.) (Mason and Co., London) 

2. Full body photograph of E.P.Adonson as 'Old 

Trusty' (n.d.) (Caldesi, Blanford and Co., London) 

3. Head and shoulders photograph of Charles Kean 

(n.d.) (Maull and Co., London) 

4. Head and shoulders photograph of J.L.Toole (n.d.) 

(London Stereoscope and Photographic Compnay) 

5. Head and shoulders photograph of Mrs (later 

Lady) Dickinson, wife of Sir John Dickinson, 

stipendiary magistrate (n.d.) (W.Goshhawk, Harrow) 

6. Head and shoulders photograph of Charles 

Fechter (n.d.) (London Stereoscope and 

Photographic Company) 

7. Upper body photograph of Sims Reeves (n.d.) 

(H.J.Whitlock, Birmingham) 

n.d. 


MS915/3/10 Miscellaneous 1974 

1. Picture postcard from the Dickens Birthplace 

Museum, Portsmouth, showing the couch on which 

Charles Dickens died (n.d.) 

2. Photograph of the grave of Henry Thomas 

Wickham (father of Helen Wickham) at Batcombe 

Church, Somerset (n.d.) 

3. Four photographs showing different views of 

'Greyfriars' (formerly Paradise House, Paradise 

Square) Oxford (home of Maria Taylor, 18631867), 

taken by Katherine Longley (19 September 1974) 


MS915/3/11 Oversize Photographs and Illustrations 1886 

1. Watercolour portrait of Thomas Lawless Ternan 

(on paper) (n.d.) (Received from Mrs Liliah 

M.Fields, stepdaughter of Geoffrey Wharton 

Robinson, March 1980) 

15

2. Head and shoulders lithograph of Charles 

Dickens (Found at the home of Gladys Wharton 

Reece by Katherine Longley, after the former's 

death in 1973, in a trunk belonging to Mrs 

F.E.Trollope) (n.d.) 

3. Full body photograph of Mr and Mrs George 

Wharton Robinson with their children Geoffrey and 

Gladys, pictured outside the High School, Margate 

(August 1886) 

4. Three head and shoulders photographs of 

Gladys Reece (2 poses) (1931) (Hugo N. van 

Wadenoyen, Cardiff) 

6 items 

16

MS915/4 Framed Items 18241913 

Framed illustrations and portraits concerning the 

extended Ternan family, including miniatures painted 

by Helen Wickham and pencil portraits of Ellen 

Ternan and Rosalind Wickham. 

MS915/4/1 Framed Miniature of Mrs F.E.Trollope 

Framed miniature portrait of Mrs F.E.Trollope by 

Helen Wickham (n.d.) 

n.d. 

1 item 

MS915/4/2 Framed Miniature of Sir John MartinHarvey 

Framed miniature portrait of Sir John MartinHarvey 

as Sydney Carton in 'The Only Way' by Helen 

Wickham (n.d.) 

n.d. 

1 item 

MS915/4/3 Framed Miniature of Frances Eleanor Jarman 1824 

Framed miniature portrait of Frances Eleanor Ternan 

(nee Jarman) by George Brown (1824). 

1 item 

MS915/4/4 Framed Miniature of Unknown Gentleman 

Framed miniature portrait of an unknown gentleman 

(c1830). 

c1830 

1 item 

MS915/4/5 Pencil Portrait of Rosalind Wickham 1913 

Framed pencil portrait of Rosalind Wickham (nee 

Darly) drawn by Helen Wickham (property of 

Katherine Longley) (1913). 

1 item 

MS915/4/6 Portrait of Ellen Ternan 

Framed pencil and gouache portrait of Ellen Ternan 

by unknown artist (c1871). 

c1871 

1 item 

17

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